Vacation Rental Owner Marketing - A different animal.

Whether you call it Business Development (BD), Portfolio Development (PD), or Owner Acquisition, one thing is sure: vacation rental owner marketing is entirely different from marketing to a vacation rental guest. 

Vacation rental owner marketing is business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Because as a professional property manager, you’re in the business of managing another person’s investment. In B2B mode, your value proposition may highlight exceptional property care, revenue potential, NPS score, and your guest marketing strategy for driving direct bookings and filling in shoulder seasons. 

Vacation rental guest marketing is business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing. Because once you have a portfolio of short-term rentals to manage, you need to fill those room nights with bookings. In B2C mode, your value proposition includes the breadth of your property portfolio, unique amenities, and guest testimonials attesting to the customer service experience.  

What’s more, many marketers specialize in B2B or B2C. While strategies can certainly be complementary, messaging and delivery make a big difference in impact. 

Are you ready to grow your property portfolio through owner-acquisition marketing? Here are a few things to keep in mind as you get started. 

Step 1: Define Your Target Owner

If we asked ten vacation rental companies who their ideal guests are, we bet 9 out of those ten would effortlessly rattle off their perfect guest persona. Ask that same question for the ideal owner, and it’s a different story. 

Thinking of the guest only is putting the cart before the horse. You can’t have a guest until you have an owner, so the first step to successful owner marketing is to define your target owner. And when we say ‘target owner,’ we mean both owner and their rental property. 

Let's start by defining what type of inventory you want. Things to consider when determining your target owner and inventory could be:

• Location of the inventory. Do you want to accept beachfront properties only, or are you willing to go beyond the beach? Are you looking for properties near popular local attractions or more secluded locations for your guests? Defining this will help you draw a geographic lasso around your target market. 
• Inventory mix. Do you want to position yourself as a luxury vacation rental company or one that has everything from budget-friendly to 5-star properties? You may only want to grow in single-family homes and not accept condominiums. Determining the type of properties you want gets you one step closer to your ideal owner. 
• Minimum length of stay. Do you require strict Saturday-Saturday bookings year-round? Will you allow 3-night stays in peak season or just in the off-season? Are discounted month-long stays a big revenue driver for your business in the shoulder season? Do you have a strong gap night strategy? 
• Flexibility in promotions and discounting. If you plan to use promotional offers and discounting to drive bookings and fill in gap nights, you want your target owner to agree with your approach. If your vacation rental model is to discount and you sign an owner that refuses to discount their vacation rental, your relationship may be built on a rocky foundation.

Once you determine these factors above, you should be able to go from: My target owner is anyone who contacts me for property management services.

To: My target owner has a single-family home or 2B+ condo within a 5-minute walk to the beach. They allow 3+ night stays in peak season and month-long stays during the off-season and are open to discounting and promoting their property to maximize bookings.

Step 2: Define Your Value Proposition

Now that you know your target owner, you need to define your value proposition to them. Traditional vacation rental companies offer similar services - handling booking sites, professional photography, dedicated owner-managers, housekeeping, maintenance, and more. So, how do you stand apart when every vacation rental company is touting the same services? That’s where your value proposition comes in.

Having a clean value proposition makes it easier to attract your target owners. Do you excel in making property management effortless and hassle-free for your owners so they have the peace of mind that their property is in the right hands? Do you thrive in personal touch, keeping owners privy to the ongoings of your business so they have the knowledge they need to be satisfied? 

Whatever your strength is, you need to define it and embed it into your value proposition. 

So instead of saying: We care for your home like it’s our own.

You say: Trust that your home will be cared for from check-in to check-out and every day between. Your dedicated owner-manager will contact you monthly to provide helpful updates and insights into your vacation rental and the business and industry as a whole.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Step 3: Create an Owner Marketing Plan

Vacation rental owners and vacation rental guests are looking to satisfy two completely different needs, so your owner marketing plan needs to reflect that. Without a plan, how will you fill the pipeline for your sales team? Consider these statements when building your plan:

Your owner marketing plan needs to be customized and strategic. It requires a collaboration of grassroots marketing tactics, like networking, and strategic digital marketing efforts layered over each other. 

Your owner marketing plan may also be seasonal, where you ramp up your marketing efforts at a specific time, like immediately after peak season when owners analyze their revenue and decide if they need to start looking for a new property management company.

It should also focus on acquisition and retention. Do not neglect an owner once they join your program. Other property managers are marketing to every owner on your rental program, so ‘marketing’ to retain your existing owners should be part of your marketing plan. 

Once you build out your owner marketing plan, you should be able to step back and see that it is truly unique to your target owner, effectively promotes your value proposition, and is completely different from your guest marketing efforts.

Step 4: Develop Your Sales Toolkit

Part of your owner marketing plan should include a sales toolkit that equips your sales team with the assets they need to pitch the owner properly. We know, we know - sales and marketing are two different things. But trust us, you want to keep your sales team from creating their own stuff! As a marketing team, you can ensure their sales toolkit is accurate, on brand, and positioned to help them close more deals. 

A sales toolkit should consist of a suite of ‘baked’ or non-editable marketing materials, and editable materials. Baked marketing materials, like a company overview outlining your value proposition and company story cannot be altered or changed. By contrast, editable materials, like a projection template, are meant to be customized to an owner. 

An effective sales toolkit is one that allows a salesperson to easily combine materials to create a cohesive sales package that feels curated for a specific owner, so mindfulness and consistency between materials are critical. Essential materials for a sales toolkit include:

• About your company
• Deep dives into specific services (ex: Rate management, property care) 
• Projections page
• Owner testimonials
• How to join the program step-by-step
• Owner perks and benefits
• A suite of letter templates for drafting one-off materials

If you want to go above and beyond, consider putting together case studies on owner success stories, surveying existing owners for a compelling owner rating page, and pulling together relevant stats compared to the market.

Owner Marketing - The B2 Collaborative Way

B2 Collaborative specializes in vacation rental marketing and has the unique ability to tap into owner marketing. Our team has worked with some of the US's largest vacation rental and hospitality brands, with roles spanning from the guest journey to owner acquisition. We’ve brainstormed and executed owner marketing campaigns that resulted in 10X the revenue return.

If you’re ready for a boost in your owner acquisition, let B2 Collaborative help. Contact us today to learn more about our owner-marketing approach.